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Lessons in many languages can boost workplace safety

HR Magazine, March, 1996 by Neville C. Tompkins

According to the most recent Census, the top 10 foreign languages spoken by U.S. residents age five or older are Spanish, French, German, Italian, Chinese, Tagalog (Philippine), Polish, Korean, Vietnamese and Portuguese. Between 1980 and 1990 California gained an additional 3.6 million people with a native language other than English.

"For many of these non-English-speaking workers, training programs presented in English are only minimally effective. They are often placed at risk on the job," explains Michele Gonzalez Arroyo, a safety trainer in the Labor Occupational Health Program at the University of California, Berkeley. Arroyo has used Spanish to teach more than 2,500 workers about California's requirements for hazard communication and hazardous waste handling.

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Communicating safety instructions effectively in more than one language is a continuing problem, that's not always acknowledged. The federal government recommends, but does not require, bilingual safety information and training. Only one state, California, requires clear communication of safety information. Also complicating the problem are lower educational levels of some members of the non-English-speaking population. Arroyo says that in her classes, she finds a high percentage of workers with lower literacy skills because many have not had the advantage of a U.S. education.

PRACTICAL APPROACHES FILL A NEED

Several companies, safety associations and outreach programs are taking practical and creative approaches to meeting the needs of employees who speak foreign languages by providing safety instructions and training materials in their native languages.

Safety training often begins with simple job instructions from a supervisor or co-worker who knows the second language and uses it to help break in the new employee on the job. The employer may then convert written safety training materials from English to one or more other languages, hitting key points from the original English lesson plan.

Trainers usually start with a session in English followed by training in a second, third or fourth language. One Connecticut manufacturer presented hazard communication training in English, followed by a session in Spanish using a Spanish voice-over of the training film. Next came sessions translated by supervisors and co-workers into Polish, then Hungarian, for other employees.

Translated materials are often scaled-down versions of English materials that include the translation of key terms or phrases. The New York State Health Department has taken a realistic approach to deciphering complex information often found on Material Safety Data Sheets by reducing the information to generic terms and providing the sheets in both English and Spanish.

Safety outreach programs. In addition to employers, several state safety associations and outreach programs have jumped in to fill the breach with safety training and materials in multiple languages. These languages include Vietnamese and Laotian on the West Coast; French in the Northeast; Portuguese, Hungarian and Polish for pockets of recent immigrants in factories of the Northeast and Midwest; and Spanish in many parts of the country.

Some examples of safety programs include the following:

* The state safety association in Texas has trained more than 1,000 Spanish-speaking workers in basic safety procedures required in the oil and gas industries.

* The outreach program at the University of California at Berkeley now has a request to train Chinese-speaking workers in the metal plating industry.

* Immigrant self-help groups, such as the Asia-Pacific Environmental Network and the Asian Immigrant Women's Advocacy in California, have extended their mission by offering basic training programs in hazard communication for members.

* Union-supported Committees on Occupational Safety and Health around the country offer basic safety training in many languages.

Companies with bilingual programs. Aurora Packing Co. in North Aurora, Ill., offers safety training in Spanish in new-employee orientation sessions, says Michael J. Fagel, human resource and safety director. Half of the company's 160 employees are Spanish-speaking, and bilingual training programs cover OSHA's hazard communication standard, safe use of hand knives, forklift safety, and the correct way to wear personal protective equipment. Aurora found it most effective to develop its own training materials in-house with help from supervisors and Spanish-speaking employees.

"Our managers try very hard to communicate with their employees in whatever language is needed - the word training is overdone and effective training should be called 'communication and understanding,'" Fagel comments.

The safety training industry has tried to assist the population with greatest need-Spanish-speaking workers - with video voice-overs, training materials and employee booklets prepared in Spanish. But for employers wanting to convert English-based training materials into other languages, it's mainly a do-it-yourself effort at the local plant.

Business Services Industry

Lessons in many languages can boost workplace safety

HR Magazine, March, 1996 by Neville C. Tompkins

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